Abstract
During the late summer to fall of 1987, Caribbean reef corals experienced an intense and widespread discoloration event described as bleaching. Contrary to initial predictions, most bleached corals did not die. However, energy input from zooxanthellae decreased, as estimated from: (i) δ13C values, a measure of the discrimination against 13C in 12C/13C assimilation, of skeletal aragonite; (ii) in situ photosynthesis-irradiance measurements; (iii) and tissue biomass parameters of Montastraea annularis and Agaricia lamarcki. The δ18O signal, a measure of the discrimination against 18O in 16O/18O assimilation, from M. annularis skeletons demonstrated that this event coincided with abnormally elevated water temperatures.
Keywords: zooxanthellae, global warming, carbonate skeleton, stable isotope
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